The Bureau of the FIFA Council has today decided to appoint a normalisation committee for the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) in accordance with art. 8 par. 2 of the FIFA Statutes.

The decision follows the recent FIFA/Concacaf fact-finding mission to Trinidad and Tobago to assess, together with an independent auditor, the financial situation of TTFA. The mission found that extremely low overall financial management methods, combined with a massive debt, have resulted in the TTFA facing a very real risk of insolvency and illiquidity. Such a situation is putting at risk the organisation and development of football in the country and corrective measures need to be applied urgently.

Therefore, the mandate of the normalisation committee will include the following:

to run the TTFA'S daily affairs;

to establish a debt repayment plan that is implementable by the TTFA;

to review and amend the TTFA Statutes (and other regulations where necessary) and to ensure their compliance with the FIFA Statutes and requirements before duly submitting them for approval to the TTFA Congress;

to organise and to conduct elections of a new TTFA Executive Committee for a four-year mandate.

The normalisation committee will be composed of an adequate number of members to be identified by the FIFA administration, in consultation with Concacaf. In line with the FIFA Governance Regulations, all members of the normalisation committee will be subject to an eligibility check.

The normalisation committee will act as an electoral committee, and none of its members will be eligible for any of the open positions in the TTFA elections under any circumstances. The specified period of time during which the normalisation committee will perform its functions will expire as soon as it has fulfilled all of its assigned tasks, but no later than 24 months after its members have been officially appointed by FIFA.

A Normalisation Committee is set to take over the administration of football in T&T for a period of maximum two years. This new development which was widely expected, took place yesterday, mere weeks after a visit by a FIFA/CONCACAF team, on a fact-finding mission to the T&T Football Association, found an extremely low overall financial situation that placed the William Wallace-led TTFA on the periphery of insolvency.

On Tuesday, a release from the world governing body for football- FIFA on its website stated that: “The Bureau of the FIFA Council has today (Tuesday) decided to appoint a normalisation committee for the T&T Football Association in accordance with articles 8, par 2 of the FIFA Statutes.

Article 8.2 of the FIFA Statutes reads: "Executive bodies of member associations may under exceptional circumstances be removed from office by the Council in consultation with the relevant confederation and replaced by a normalisation committee for a specific period."

The decision follows the recent FIFA/CONCACAF fact-finding mission to T&T to assess, together with an independent auditor, the financial situation of the TTFA. The mission found that extremely low financial management methods, combined with massive debt, have resulted in the TTFA facing a very real risk of insolvency and illiquidity.”

It added: “Such a situation is putting at risk the organization and the development of football in the country, and corrective measures need to be applied urgently.” Ironically, the committee comes at a time when the Wallace-led football executive had won over the public's trust from the David John-Williams led administration based on transparency and accountability, and the ability to raise funding to treat with the association's burdening debt, which it is understood, to be in the region of $50 million, Wallace said recently at a press conference at the Queen's Park Oval in Port-of-Spain on March 4.

Only last week Ramesh Ramdhan, the T&T football association's general secretary told Guardian Media Sports that the FIFA/CONCACAF team had expressed satisfaction with the plans and structures his association had put in place, as well as their plans to treat with the financial affairs, and they (FIFA) was willing to pump money to assist the embattled football association.

The normalisation committee is expected to: Run the TTFA's daily affairs: To establish a debt repayment plan that is implemented by the TTFA: To review and amend the TTFA Statutes and other regulations where necessary and to ensure their compliance with the FIFA Statutes and requirements before duly submitting them for approval to the TTFA Congress: To organize and to conduct elections of a new TTFA Executive Committee for a four-year mandate.

This is the first time the FIFA normalisation committee has had to take over the governance of T&T football which is 112 years old, and a FIFA member for the last 76 years, and it comes amidst rising concerns of questionable contracts, promises of many local and international sponsors that are still to materialize, and promises of transparency and accountability being compromised by members of the Board of Directors complaining of being left out of the decision-making process since the new executive took over just over three months ago.

According to the release: “The normalisation committee will be composed of an adequate number of members to be identified by the FIFA administration, in consultation with CONCACAF. In line with the FIFA Governance Regulations, all members of the normalisation committee will be subject to an eligibility check. The normalisation committee will act as an electoral committee, and none of its members will be eligible for any of the open positions in the TTFA elections under any circumstances. The specified period during which the normalisation committee will perform its function will expire as soon it has fulfilled all its assigned tasks, but no later than 24 months after its members have been officially appointed by FIFA.”

Contacted by Guardian Media Sports on Tuesday Wallace, who was elected to the local organisation top post on November 24 last year, said he was surprised with the position taken by the FIFA and particularly for the reasons given. The local football boss said they have been working on some stuff and will contact the FIFA for official confirmation since he only saw it on the FIFA website, noting that he or his general secretary had not been contacted or informed about it.

“After the FIFA team visited and said it was satisfied. We gave the FIFA a total breakdown of the TTFA financial debt with all the court matters and rulings etc. We also gave them a structural plan of how we were moving forward. And at the end of the audit, a statement was made that they were satisfied, and we were told to get the freeze on the account removed before the FIFA can start sending money again, so I am shocked now at the steps taken,” Wallace explained.

Former president John-Williams told Guardian Media Sports that he had no comment on the matter on Tuesday.

This is heartbreaking. They now gonna step in??? When that pig was running our debt up, FIFA was coming to eat bake and shark and shake hands...all of a sudden they wanna do this??

don't you know that the said fat ugly pig you're talking about is behind this mele?? i really hate trinis with all my heart, they are some bad mind jealous disruptive unpatriotic people, no wonder we can't even win another caribbean cup. our people are too bloody destructive and evil. i think i'm supporting jamaica from here on in.

The Bureau of the FIFA Council has today decided to appoint a normalisation committee for the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) in accordance with art. 8 par. 2 of the FIFA Statutes.

The decision follows the recent FIFA/Concacaf fact-finding mission to Trinidad and Tobago to assess, together with an independent auditor, the financial situation of TTFA. The mission found that extremely low overall financial management methods, combined with a massive debt, have resulted in the TTFA facing a very real risk of insolvency and illiquidity. Such a situation is putting at risk the organisation and development of football in the country and corrective measures need to be applied urgently.

Therefore, the mandate of the normalisation committee will include the following:

to run the TTFA'S daily affairs;

to establish a debt repayment plan that is implementable by the TTFA;

to review and amend the TTFA Statutes (and other regulations where necessary) and to ensure their compliance with the FIFA Statutes and requirements before duly submitting them for approval to the TTFA Congress;

to organise and to conduct elections of a new TTFA Executive Committee for a four-year mandate.

The normalisation committee will be composed of an adequate number of members to be identified by the FIFA administration, in consultation with Concacaf. In line with the FIFA Governance Regulations, all members of the normalisation committee will be subject to an eligibility check.

The normalisation committee will act as an electoral committee, and none of its members will be eligible for any of the open positions in the TTFA elections under any circumstances. The specified period of time during which the normalisation committee will perform its functions will expire as soon as it has fulfilled all of its assigned tasks, but no later than 24 months after its members have been officially appointed by FIFA.

so please tell us what all this means, and in very lay man's terms. is william wallace no longer in charge, because i'm hearing thee committee is being removed yet no word of the president, and is the appointments of all the other coaches adn stff revoked? come on give us the scoop in block language.

The motive behind these developments are very transparent and show that FIFA stands for corruption. They allow the people who run up the bill to leave the bar, but the people who came in to work on paying the bill get arrested?

The motive behind these developments are very transparent and show that FIFA stands for corruption. They allow the people who run up the bill to leave the bar, but the people who came in to work on paying the bill get arrested?

This is pure corruption.

it's fifa you're talking about, as the other poster said, they left that nasty pig to ruin our football then they swoop in to play savior, i which they had done that when jack was in charge. in my opinion jack warner was the one who is mainly responsible for this debt, and he gets to go free with a lion share pension. well that's justice for you fifa style.

it pains me to say this but i'm coming to the conclusion that contro might have been on the ball all along. it seems to me that montagliani and infantino might have been behind jeopardizing our football after all tp push the bigger teams in concacaf and keep the marginalized caribbean teams in the dust bin.

what i think the CFU should do if they have any balls is to support the next president for fifa, and vote as a block and make demands, like changing the ridiculous world cup format and asking of the same montagliani to relent to our damands or else our votes will go to our own regional concacaf president.

as for andre baptiste, that dog was all to happy to announce that bit of bad news, i could only think he had something to do with it. boy my hate for trinis in trinidad has been intensified as of now, these people have been so blessed with wealth talent and good fortune but they continually support destruction and corruption in stead of excellence. what a bloody waste.

But the essence of what Contro had been saying aligns with the narrative of Empire behavior, and more specifically the planned, systemic, oppression our people have been facing from time immemorial.

Go to Wired868 and read Liburd's report on this issue. Both Infantino and Concacaf's president are behind this. . .

Now! What are we going to do? Leh me guess. . .Nothing

Lord, I pray that there is some misunderstanding here--that this will be turned around.

yeh boy, seems like i owe contro a serious apology. i wouldn't have believed it if i didn't see it myself and today was that eye opener i needed. infantino, mantagiani and that fat ugly pig was indeed keeping our football in a corner for a long time now as only a greedy sellout unpatriotic trini would do.

and i should have known when the referees were giving us such a hard time, case and point, that goal jovin scored against the mexicans at the hasely crawford stadium, it was very clear even to the naked eye that the man was on side by leaps and bounds but the jamaican lines man called him off side and it wasn't even close, not to mention the sending off alvin jones in that game vs honduras.

boy for a while there i had hope and was very optimistic and thought that we had finally turn the corner from such a turbulent 25 years of football mismanagement, but i guess i shouldn't expect anything with this bloody $#%*&#$% disgusting country, the moto for this island should be "the more things change the more it remains the same".

We need to stand up against fifa guys. Seriously. Let’s petition. I’m sure the TTFA can file an injunction against FIFA whilst appealing this. There has to be some resolve, the measure they’re taking is pretty drastic. IF this conspiracy is true, then the courts can settle this. The present admin was democratically elected.

What?? We a soppy nation that just going and sit down like a bobolee and take manners jussso...this isn’t right guys.

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Soca in mih vein, Soca in meh bloodSoca in yuh vein, Soca in blood,Soca in we vein, Soca in we blood,It's a heart of love, can't deny soca, cuz its good fuh de soul...Trinidad and Tobago jump up now!

FIFA, the global governing body for football, has scrapped the TT Football Association (TTFA) board and decided to appoint a normalisation committee, in accordance with article 8.2 of the FIFA Statutes.

This decision, by the Bureau of the FIFA Council, was announced on the FIFA website, on Tuesday. It means the tenure of president William Wallace, and his deputies Clynt Taylor, Sharon Joseph-Warrick and Sam Phillip, which began on November 24, 2019 has come to an end.

Wallace and his United TTFA team defeated Team Impactors, led by David John-Williams, 26-20 at the elections, which took place at the Home of Football, Balmain, Couva.

However, Wallace has questioned the move made by FIFA, since his administration has been seeking to erase some of the $50 million debt inherited from the 2015-2019 John-Williams’ regime.

“It’s unfortunate in that we had four years of members of the TT Football Association complaining and many people outside the football fraternity asking what’s happening,” said Wallace. “Having come into office and identified some of the stuff that occurred under the last regime, and no action was taken then.

“It’s little strange that an administration that has come into office in November and this decision has been taken,” Wallace added.

Keith Look Loy, a member of the TTFA board and an influential member of United TTFA during their election campaign, was vocal in his condemnation of FIFA’s act.

“This is, in my view, an attempted coup d’etat by FIFA to remove a democratically elected administration, an administration elected by the will of the football community,” Look Loy said. “They are seeking to overturn that will and acting like a colonial absentee landlord that feels he could do whatever he wants, regardless of what the local people think because their views don’t matter. It is highly disrespectful.”

According to an article on the FIFA website, “The decision follows the recent FIFA/Concacaf fact-finding mission to TT to assess, together with an independent auditor, the financial situation of TTFA.

“The mission found that extremely low overall financial management methods, combined with a massive debt, have resulted in the TTFA facing a very real risk of insolvency and illiquidity. Such a situation is putting at risk the organisation and development of football in the country and corrective measures need to be applied urgently.”

However, Look Loy stressed that FIFA never took such drastic action during the previous TTFA leadership.

“FIFA presided over the mess created by John-Williams and his administration,” said Look Loy. “The debt that we inherited, the $4 million in monies deducted (from office staff) and never paid to the authorities, spending FIFA money on the Home of Football and the (Fire Service) refuse to allow us to open it.

“(FIFA) came and celebrated with him. The TTFA electorate rejected John-Williams. They want to hold a new administration, that has done nothing wrong, responsible for the sins of John-Williams’ administration. It is objectionable, unreasonable and unacceptable, and we’re not going to be taking it lying down.”

Wallace admitted that he was yet to be officially informed by FIFA about their decision.

“I got the same news that you got, via the same way that you got it,” he alluded. “I have not gotten anything official from FIFA as yet, neither my secretary (Ramesh Ramdhan).”

Look Loy added, “I understand, up to now, when I spoke to them about 15 minutes (before the interview) that FIFA has informed neither the president nor the general secretary of this move officially. That summarises the disrespect, that they feel they could sit afar and just dictate to us. People, including myself, repeatedly pointed out to FIFA officials that there was mismanagement. Their attitude was hands off and it was TTFA’s business, but suddenly it is their business.”

Wallace recently said the fact-finding mission was a positive one. However, he did not want to be drawn into speculation that this move was indirectly linked to John-Williams’ close ties with FIFA president Gianni Infantino.

“I wouldn’t want to aggravate anything at this point, I would want to hold (back) on those statements. I don’t want to go down this road at this point.”

Look Loy opined, “(Team Impactors) have been trying to find every little opening to attack, and they’re being encouraged by high football authorities (as well as) the international and local media.”

The mandate of the normalisation committee includes – running the TTFA’s daily affairs; establishing a debt repayment plan that is implementable by the TTFA; reviewing and amending the TTFA statutes; organising and conducting elections of a new TTFA executive committee for a four-year mandate.

The normalisation committee will comprise an adequate number of members to be identified by the FIFA administration, in consultation with Concacaf. In line with the FIFA Governance Regulations, all members of the normalisation committee will be subject to an eligibility check.

The normalisation committee will act as an electoral committee, and none of its members will be eligible for any of the open positions in the TTFA elections under any circumstances.

The specified period of time during which the normalisation committee will perform its functions will expire as soon as it has fulfilled all of its assigned tasks, but no later than 24 months after its members have been officially appointed by FIFA.

Asked if he will be looking to appeal FIFA’s decision to CAS (Court of Arbitration for Sport), Wallace replied, “It is new territory for me, we need to get some information on that.”

« Last Edit: March 18, 2020, 06:01:02 AM by Flex »

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The real measure of a man's character is what he would do if he knew he would never be found out.

We need to stand up against fifa guys. Seriously. Let’s petition. I’m sure the TTFA can file an injunction against FIFA whilst appealing this. There has to be some resolve, the measure they’re taking is pretty drastic. IF this conspiracy is true, then the courts can settle this. The present admin was democratically elected.

What?? We a soppy nation that just going and sit down like a bobolee and take manners jussso...this isn’t right guys.

That's how I feel. We should challenge this! The new admin have only been in office for just over 3 months. If things didn't improve over 2 years then I can justify what FIFA's doing.

So suddenly Fifa has concluded they are going to put in place a normalisation committee in place to deal with / address the business of football as it stands . However the question is why now ? For four plus years they / Fifa allowed and turned a blind eye to the mismanagement of the past administration of David John Williams , not a damn thing was done then to address those issues , but of course why should they / Fifa do anything then when their boy toy was in place to do their bidding ! This development is absolutely disturbing and suspicious to say the least. I hope the current administration seek legal advice on this sudden development . It appears someone is running scared of what may be additionally found out hence the reason for this surprising and sudden turn of events . Someone at the very top / Fifa is very uncomfortable it seems .

There are too many sell outs on local soil / that fat Cochon David williams is having a hearty laugh in he hideout right now / I have no doubt he and his cohorts vex he was not re elected So as a result the intent is to plot and do as much damage as possible ..... This whole thing stinks to put it mildly its fraud / corruption at the highest level .

This is a clear, shameless attempt by FIFA and Concacaf to contravene the new, democratically-elected FA executive in the interest of having an executive that is more friendly to them in power. I believe the only recourse the ousted executive would now have would be to take the case to an independent body such as the Court of Arbitration for Sport, as mentioned in the above article. Maybe, locally, an organization such as the Ministry of Sport and Youth Affairs would be able to do something about it were they to declare the new FIFA-placed committee null and void as was similarly done when TTFF ceded to TTFA in 2012...though that would open up a new rabbit hole. Sadly, regardless of the fact that what FIFA have done is clearly unethical -- to me there are clear and obvious conflicts of interest at play -- I am not sure they have broken any rules given the state of the TTFA (even though that is all down to previous administrations and the new TTFA were making positive strides, at least in my opinion). That would also likely be a long, expensive legal battle that I'm not sure the ousted executive could manage against the financial might of FIFA. It sounds like a poor option to me, but the only possible recourse may well be just to allow the normalisation committee to finish its work, and hopefully ensure that when the next elections are held, that the right people win the vote.

On a personal note, outside of the FAs and good people who I work with directly, I have largely stepped away from my work with Caribbean football, mainly due to the piss-poor state of football governance (with a few exceptions) across the region. For years I have argued for better accountability and transparency throughout the FAs in the region, but things have actually deteriorated since I really started working on football data in the region in 2008. I can assure you, even under DJW, the TTFA wasn't even in the "Top 10" of the worst-run FAs in the region. While I have constantly criticized the current Concacaf regime for their treatment of the Caribbean, the only people truly responsible for the shameful state of football governance across the region are the administrators at those FAs. The now-ousted TTFA executive had given me hope of things beginning to change, at least in one corner of the Caribbean. In the past, a stronger CFU may have been able to keep FIFA, and especially Concacaf, in check on matters such as this, but since Concacaf opened their Jamaica office in 2017 and the CFU basically allowed itself to be basically consigned to oblivion, there is little chance of that now.

When Jack shamelessly tried to steal our world cup ticket allotment via Simpaul, I wrote a letter to the editor of the Express outlining the brazenness of the act. I outlined the actual costs of tickets and the actual costs of going to Germany as well as the correct process to obtain tickets and how tickets are allocated to national associations. All of which Jack was trying to ignore in the name of the grift. It was one of the first letters if not first and was followed by not a deluge but a steady stream of outrage. Lasana Liburd soon picked up the thread and turned up the pressure on Jack until he was forced to back down and play like it was all a misunderstanding.

We can do something. Call your member of parliament. Call the Minister of Sports. Call into the radio stations and let the truth be known. Write letters to the editor. We could do something small individually that can turn into something big. We must fight this fight.

Admittedly, I had written my column since last Sunday as with this Covid-19 pandemic, there are little to no sports to watch live on television and I am not venturing to see anything taking place locally because I try to stay away from crowds.

Instead, I was looking back at the Liverpool versus Atletico Madrid game in the UEFA Champions League round of 16 and I was focusing on some interesting post-match comments by two managers whom I have the highest respect for - Jurgen Klopp and Diego Simeone.

Simeone made the most telling contribution when he suggested that the tie was unfair to Liverpool as his team had 120 minutes in which to score an away goal (and we know how precious away goals are), while Liverpool only had 90 minutes to score that all-important away goal in the first leg of the tie. The away goals rule does indeed make the competition exciting but Simeone has a great point and I suppose we can all find ways to either support or disagree with him, but I am certain that it is something UEFA will look at going forward.

I went back to the column-writing board and scrapped what I previously wrote as I am in a state of shock and disbelief - it has nothing to do with the devastation Covid-19 is causing worldwide, that is bad enough; but, is Fifa trying to finally put the nail in the coffin of T&T’s football?

Perhaps David Rudder has to compose a new song alluding to this could not be football here but rather, madness. Fifa has appointed this normalisation committee due to, according to them, TTFA’s low financial management methods and massive debt. Reading on, the mighty and untouchable Fifa says the decision follows the recent Fifa/Concacaf fact-finding mission to T&T which found that the TTFA was facing a “very real risk of insolvency and illiquidity”.

This ‘normalisation’ committee now has four mandates: 1 To run TTFA’s daily affairs; 2 To establish a debt repayment plan that is implemented by the TTFA; 3 To review and amend the TTFA statutes (and other regulations where necessary) and to ensure their compliance with the Fifa statutes and requirements before duly submitting them for approval; 4 To conduct elections of a new TTFA executive committee for a four-year mandate.

But the burning question remains: after four years, has Fifa finally woken up and now realised that T&T’s football has been in shambles? Well, FIFA, many examples render this sudden intervention as rather peculiar. Our debt rose from $15M to $50M, how come you didn’t investigate that? The ‘Home of Football’ project which you gave a neat sum of money for and your esteemed president came here and posed with the Prime Minister and it still can’t be operationalised, how come you didn’t investigate that? Stephen Hart was fired in bizarre circumstances, why didn’t you investigate that? How come you didn’t investigate the hiring of Belgian coach Tom Saintfiet following Hart’s dismissal and his subsequent resignation after just 35 days on the job?

Fifa, how come you haven’t investigated the sharp decline in women’s football in T&T when in 2014, we played a playoff with Ecuador and were on the brink of World Cup qualification and two years later, we can’t even beat St. Kitts & Nevis? How come you haven’t investigated why the technical director was fired and hasn’t been paid multiple payments for rendered services? FIFA, why have you not investigated how coaches were appointed for various national teams and some have never been paid? How come, Fifa, you haven’t investigated why we didn’t field a team for the Olympic qualifiers? Going back to the ‘Home of Football’, Fifa, how come you didn’t know the building was uninsured and lacked statutory certifications from agencies such as the T&T Fire Service before having your president attend the ‘opening’ ceremony? How come you didn’t investigate rumours during the past year about late payments to suppliers and the non-payment of salaries to staff?

How come you didn’t investigate the claim by the executive who invited your president (and only God knows why the Prime Minister was at the opening) that the debt inherited was reduced from $30M to $18M, when in fact after the new executive told you the debt is $50M, you suddenly agree to investigate? FIFA how can this debt jump from $18M to $50M in a mere few weeks?

Fifa, can you please investigate why crowds don’t go to support T&T football anymore? At the same time, you may want to heap praise after investigating our phenomenal 15-0 win over Anguilla?

Fifa, can you investigate why a committee was formed to start a proposed T-League, an intended merger between the Pro League and the Super League - the top two professional football leagues, the committee sent in a budget and all proposals to start the league and just like that, Fifa, it was stopped and the then TTFA administration organised a "League of Champions" and it is alleged that certain clubs received bounced cheques. Please, in local parlance, “ah begging!” you, Fifa, to investigate that.

Fifa, when you investigate how the money was spent to build the ‘Home of Football’, the country would like to know how much more money is needed to complete the building to have it fully functional.

Fifa, I have lots more for you to investigate but I figure it’s a good start for your normalisation committee, but did you know that the current executive of the TTFA was duly and democratically elected at an annual general meeting (AGM) of the Association by clubs and officials who were entitled to vote? This intervention reeks of something more, to say the least.

According to one of your former vice-presidents: “Fifa is the most political organisation in the world”. I genuinely believe him.

Editor’s note: The views expressed in this column are solely those of the writer and do not reflect the views of any organisation of which he is a stakeholder.